Not many 15-year-olds are published authors. However, thanks to Los Gatos High School’s partnership with e-book distributor Smashwords, 150 freshmen will soon see their compositions in print. The poetry anthology Windows to the Teenage Soul is the first self-produced e-book by a high school class.

Bankhead initiated the Los Gatos Library’s partnership with Smashwords in 2012 to educate the public about e-books. After a series of well-received presentations about e-publishing, they devised a program in which authors in the community could contribute their work to the Los Gatos Library through Smashwords. The next step in their promotion of local writers was to incorporate the school system.

Coker, a graduate of Los Gatos High School, aims for Smashwords to assist in expanding schools’ culture of literacy and reading to include authorship.

“By incorporating an e-book publishing project into the class curriculum and by teaching students how the professional publishing process works, we’ve opened their eyes to the joy of poetry, the joy of creative writing and the joy of publication,” Coker explained.

Bankhead maintained that independent publications are crucial to libraries’ longevity and noted, “If librarians can help mentor and catalyze more e-book publishing in classrooms and community centers, we’ll help guarantee a long-term future for libraries in the form of library-friendly authors, library-devoted readers and library-supporting community members.”

Teacher Tonya McQuade leaped at the opportunity to lead the e-book project. As an avid poet, she decided that free form poetry would be an opportune medium for students to express themselves. McQuade elaborates in the e-book’s preface: “Poetry gives us the chance to use our imagination, to be creative, to explore our deepest thoughts and feelings and to discover the gifts we have inside.”

Touching on themes such as love, social issues, the environment and sense of self, the students’ poetry allows readers a genuine glimpse in to the mind of a teenager in the 21st century. McQuade expects that readers of Windows to the Teenage Soul will be overwhelmed by how the young people’s work.

“Teenagers get a lot of bad press, and I’m excited for adults in the community to see the beautiful and creative poetry these students are capable of writing,” she remarked.

The project unearthed talents outside of writing. McQuade’s English 9 Honors class headed the book’s compilation and divided into five teams to ensure its success: art and photography; editing; event planning; layout and design; and marketing and publicity. The students developed requisite skills by writing press releases, coordinating evites and facilitating donations for the book’s release party.

The class of 2017 set a high precedent for next year’s freshmen. Within a week of its release, the anthology was the third most downloaded book of poetry on Apple’s iBook store. The success of the e-book has encouraged Los Gatos High School to repeat the project in the following years. All involved believe Windows to the Teenage Soul will be the first of many self-produced e-books by a class to come.

Student Athena Muzumdar hopes the e-book will influence elementary school students to start writing. She said, “I know that when you’re 10 years old, you don’t feel like you can make a difference or have the potential to do something great, but I think if they saw what a whole class can come together and do it would be pretty inspiring.”

The e-book’s legacy will not cease with its publication. The proceeds from its sale will be used to fund the class of 2017’s future events, such as their senior prom and high school reunion.

“Windows to the Teenage Soul” will be available for $2.99 on the websites of Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, KOBO and Apple’s iBook store.

Kathryn Frazer is the daughter of Bruce Frazer, a Los Gatos High School graduate in the class of 1967.

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